


Hostage situation

by Zoya113



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Possibly Triggering, a little depressing, hostage tw, no guns mentioned, tried to lean to canon for once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:28:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22649419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113
Summary: There’s a hostage situation at CCRP
Relationships: Charlotte/ Sam, Emma Perkins/ Paul Matthews, some Charlotte/ Ted
Comments: 4
Kudos: 74





	Hostage situation

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not dead just depressed ✌️ I didn’t wanna deep dive w this one because we had an incident like this nearby a couple years back so it’s always been a bit too scary for me, so this is more focused on character behaviour / fight flight than the horror of it

Emma woke up staring at the empty spot in bed next to her, relishing her sleep in but missing waking up next to Paul. 

There had been a handful of CCRP employees called in earlier than usual to help prepare for the staff function after work, and her doormat of a boyfriend had let Melissa volunteer him. 

She closed her eyes a second longer before reluctantly having to get out of bed, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and getting up to fetch some breakfast. 

She only made toast because she would have to leave soon, and sat herself down in front of the TV. Charlotte had made jam for them a while ago, and it was her first time tasting it. It was so much sweeter than actual jam, and only two bites in she decided it was the best thing she was going to have all day. 

She stretched out on the couch, feeling the sunlight come down on her skin as she savoured the time before she would have to head off to her shift. 

When she turned the TV on though it did catch her interest. It was on the news, police cars and marquees and tents all filling up a street. She wondered what on earth could be going on, groaning when she recognised the Starbucks. The street must be closed off, and that meant everyone would be coming to Beanies instead. 

She could be an asshole, but not when it came to just doing her job. The place would probably be twice as busy, so she wouldn’t leave her coworkers on their own. 

She finished off her bread, tuning out the news report as she carried her plate over to the sink, humming to herself all up until she heard the phrase ‘hostage situation at a local company, CCRP technical.’ 

She dropped her plate, it shattered across their kitchen tiles and her heart rate sky rocketed. 

She bolted to her room to grab her phone, not wanting to miss the news report. 

Five missed calls, a dozen texts, maybe more, she didn’t have time to scroll. 

‘Eight hostages confirmed to be inside,’ the news anchor said. 

No, not hostages. They had names, they were her friends. She didn’t want to think about who else could be in there, she pressed her phone to her ear to call Paul. She didn’t want him to be in there, but she knew he was. He was there early, for the function, Melissa was too. Who else? Bill? Charlotte? She didn’t even want Ted in there. 

Paul wasn’t answering. It made her stomach lurch. 

‘Hostage negotiator on the scene. Suspect entered building while already on the run, no criminal links to anyone inside.’

Why couldn’t her legs move? The news wasn’t even processing. It came through in short, sharp sentences that didn’t make sense until moments later. 

She had to go, didn’t know where, but she can’t sit here. She still had to go to work.

She wasn’t expecting her body to be able to pull her uniform on, but it barely made it. She didn’t bother with the bow, she had to be out the door right now.

She flicked the radio on, turning it up so she could hear it over the heart in her ears. 

She did a haphazard parking job, stumbling into work. 

It was crowded as she had suspected, but Zoey and one of her theatre friends were at the counter, staring at her with wide, shocked eyes. 

“What?” She made her way to the counter but Zoey rushed out to meet her halfway. “What are you doing here?” 

“My shift,” something was rising in Emma’s throat and it was hard to get the words around it. Speaking put pressure on her throat and she felt she had to splutter just to catch her breath. 

“Emma, Emma no, we saw the news, Nora messaged you, she said you didn’t have to come in sweetheart,” Zoey was trying to rub her back but Emma swatted her hands away.

“Let me stay!” She demanded, not even caring when she drew in stares. “I’ve gotta stay here.” 

“Em, hun. It’s easier for you to go home, don’t you want to watch the news?” 

“I want to stay here!” She ordered with a stomp of her foot. She wanted to be as close as she could, she wanted to distract herself, she wanted to feel useful to one thing at least. “What’s going on out there?” She asked as Zoey helped her stumble to the backroom. “What is it?”

“He’s the guy the police have been on a man hunt for, they caught up to him this morning and he ran into CCRP because someone was opening it up early.”

She let out a small wail because she knew that would have been Melissa. “Is anyone dead?” 

“No Em, everything’s fine so far,” she tried to help her down onto the couch but she was too rigid to sit. 

“He’s in there, Zoey!” She finally burst out, shaking Zoey’s shoulders. “He’s in there this morning!”

“Oh Emma, Em I’m so sorry,” she pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back as she wetted Zoey’s shirt with her tears. “Don’t you want to go back home?” 

“No, I want to stay here Zoey!” She insisted, shaking her manager’s arm. 

“Alright, okay! Just stay in the backroom okay? Here’s my phone, you can check the news on it alright? Let me know if you need anything.” 

———————————————————

Charlotte kept trying to tuck herself underneath her desk, only to come out five seconds later to try and get fresh air. She kept getting claustrophobic and gasping loudly for air.

“Shhh, shh, Charlotte,” Paul tried to warn her. “Just sit still, please,” he swallowed hard, adjusting his back so his bound hands could take one of hers to try and keep her still. 

“He’s going to come back,” she sobbed. 

“Char, keep your voice down,” Ted warned, a little bit more venomous. “He’s not gonna come back soon if you’re quiet.”

“But I-!” She dug her teeth into her bottom lip, nodding. 

His hands were tied, but he could still tap his foot, and it was the only thing that was stopping him from just screaming. 

No one was appreciating any talking. There were eight of them crammed into a three person office, and there was no privacy or solitude. Paul’s knees were pressing against Ted’s but it wasn’t like he could move. 

They all fell silent again, just watching the floor. 

He wished he could grab his phone, had Emma heard by now? He didn’t want her to be worrying too. 

“What do you think he wants?” Paul murmured, squeezing Charlotte’s hand. 

“He probably just wants to fucking run,” Ted growled. “He doesn’t want shit.”

“Don’t say that,” Melissa pursed her lips shut like she regretted talking, her eyes falling to her watch.

“I don’t know how long this is gonna last,” someone spoke up. 

Their speech was disjointed. No one was really replying to one another, only voicing their own thoughts. 

Paul kept closing his eyes and holding his breath, trying to listen out. 

He didn’t understand why this had to happen to him and his friends. Bill was going to volunteer too, but he had his week with Alice, and wanted to drive her to school. He kept wishing that it could’ve been him. His head ran through a million ideas, maybe if he had a kid he would’ve passed on this too. Maybe if he was just a little bit more stubborn like Emma, Melissa wouldn’t have bugged him into signing up.   
So maybe maybe’s and what if’s. And nothing was changing. 

But then he caught movement out of the corner of his eyes, Melissa was fidgeting with something behind her back. 

He looked up at her but she was focussed, so he nudged Ted and tilted his head towards her. 

He shrugged, looking back down into his lap. 

“Melissa?” He whispered, not wanting to stress anyone out. 

She looked up, stopping her fiddling when he raised his eyebrow. She murmured something and stayed still. 

There was a creak as someone stepped on the bad floorboard and everyone took in a deep breath or a yelp. The man was coming back. 

Charlotte started her hyperventilating again, pressing her head into her knees and yelping, no matter how hard Paul held her hand. She was calling for Sam, and for once, Ted wasn’t trying to lecture her about it. 

The door swung open and the burly man huffed, doing a jumbled head count twice to ensure all eight people were still there.   
“Jesus fucking christ.” 

Charlotte flinched, squeezing Paul’s hand back. 

“Hey, just let us go man, you’re still gonna get arrested anyways!” Ted tried to argue, Paul could see his hands shaking behind his back. 

“And if you try anything they’ve got permission to shoot you!” Called someone else from behind Bill’s desk. 

The frazzled man clung to the doorknob to support himself. “Shut up!” He ordered.   
“One of you, come with me!” 

“Take her!” One man jerked his head at Melissa. 

“Huh?” Paul gaped.

“She’s the one who signed us up for this bullshit in the first place!” The same man yelled. 

“Stop shouting!” There was sweat racing down their attacker’s forehead. 

“Piss off man, get off her back. Melissa’s not even twenty five, she’s a kid. You’re an adult, bro!” Ted snapped. “They should take you!” 

Melissa was silent, pressing up against the wall and holding her breath. 

“I’ll go then,” Paul stammered. He didn’t want someone hurting Melissa, or anyone for that matter. “What do you want?” 

He took one look at Paul and shook his head. Paul was taller than him, he would be a lot harder to control. He didn’t know Paul had no intentions on fighting back. So he pushed past Paul’s desk and grabbed Melissa’s shoulder, hauling her up to pull her back out the door, slamming it. 

Everyone stared at the door like they could stare through it, speechless. No one could image he would actually take someone. 

“Melissa?” Paul broke the silence, trying to stand up.

“Sit back down man! Don’t piss him off or he’ll take you too!” Ted demanded, shoving him with his knee. 

“What’s he doing with her?” 

“Just sit down! We can’t do anything about it!” A man across the room growled. 

But he couldn’t just not do anything. “What if he hurts her?”

“Would you prefer it to be you?” A man closer to Paul huffed. “You should be happy - you’ve got someone to get back to, she doesn’t.” 

Ted didn’t either, and he was being painfully quiet as his coworkers started harassing him. Paul didn’t even know half their names, he stuck to his own office from the moment he started working here. This was just as bad as being wedged in here with strangers. “Are you saying he’s going to kill her!?” Paul barked. “And are you saying he should!? Just because she lives on her own?” He wanted to get up and fight him. 

“Shut up, man!” Ted elbowed him. “Keep your voice down! Didn’t you hear the man!?” 

“That’s our friend!”

“Let the fucking cops deal with it man, or you’ll get in trouble too!” Ted was just as adamant as Paul.

Charlotte whimpered, spinning around to bury her head behind Paul’s shoulders. 

Paul took in a shaky breath, rubbing his fingertips together. He wanted to do something. “Charlotte?” He whispered to her. “Are you okay?”

“No, oh it’s not alright Paul!” Charlotte whimpered. 

“Do you think you can get my iPhone out of my pocket?” He bit down hard on his lip because he understood the risk, and Ted was being a suck up anyways. He wasn’t going to die here just because Ted got Stockholm syndrome 

“I thought he took them all.” 

Admittedly, their attacker wasn’t the brightest, especially not under all this stress. Paul managed to sneak it past him.

Paul shook his head, he just had to have his phone on him. Even though his hands were behind his back he couldn’t get it from his pocket without Charlotte’s help.

“What are those two doing?” Someone asked. 

“Nothing,” Paul huffed. He wasn’t telling the whole office. Then they would all want his phone, and he didn’t have much charge. 

Charlotte caught it before it could fall from his pocket, placing it on the ground by his hands before turning back around to face him. 

“Stop moving around so much,” Ted’s face screwed up. “If we do as he says he won’t hurt us.” 

“Well he’s already got Melissa!” Paul spat. “And we don’t know what he’s doing with her!” 

“Shhh! Shut the fuck up Paul! Shut up!” Ted elbowed him in the ribs again. “Are you trying to get us killed?”

“No! I’m trying to get us out of here!” Paul picked up his phone, managing to turn it on and edging it to the side so he could see it over his shoulder. 

He had a lot of texts coming through, wow. That was a lot of people worrying.   
He tried to navigate through all the notifications coming through on his phone to Emma’s name. 

He wasn’t sure what he wanted to type, but he wanted her to know he wasn’t dead as soon as possible. He couldn’t even imagine what she was feeling like, so all he said was ‘hi’, only to add ‘don’t call’.

Someone gasped at the creak of the bad floorboard, and Paul dropped his phone, shuffling over it to cover up to light as the door was swung open and Melissa was pushed back in, stumbling over one of the hostages on the floor and falling into someone else’s lap, Paul felt like he could breathe again.

He stuck his head in for a second to do another headcount. “Just stay here!” He ordered like they had a choice. He slammed the door. 

Paul couldn’t wait for him to cross back over the bad floorboard and to be out of earshot. “Melissa!”

“Shh!” Came another hiss and another elbow from Ted. Paul would bruise there now. 

“Melissa, are you okay?” He sat forward, leaning up on his knees. 

She tried to worm herself up, crawling out of the man’s lap she had fallen into and resting her back against Charlotte’s desk.   
She let out a bothered but muffled cry, and Paul realised she had been gagged by another one of the rags the man had used to bind their hands. 

She rubbed her head on her shoulder, getting it off her mouth and spitting on the floor. “The police are here!” She announced. “They’re outside!” 

“Thanks, we figured, Melissa!” Ted banged his head back against the wall. 

“No, I mean there’s a negotiator.” She wiped her lips, shivering. “And she said he wasn’t allowed to hurt us.”

“He’s a criminal, you think he follows rules?” Someone snapped at her. 

She went quiet again, hunching over, returning to whatever she was fidgeting with behind her back.

“Can we not pick on her for a second?” Paul tried to plead with everyone. “We’re all scared but are you really gonna feel better if someone dies?” 

“Stop saying someone will die!” Came a cry from the corner of the room. 

“Paul,” Charlotte tapped his knee. “Your phone,” she whispered.

“Oh!” He dropped back down, Emma had been messaging him almost non stop, and he wormed his phone back into his hand. He was shaking too much to read it though, he had a throbbing headache from all the stress and arguing. 

‘I love you Em and I’m okay’ he said, he was sure there would be typos in there but they were the least of his problem. He turned his phone back off but that didn’t save it from all of Emma’s responses flooding back in. “D’you need to text Sam?” He offered, swatting his phone over to Charlotte. 

“Do you think he’s out there?” She murmured to Paul. 

“Charlotte, now is not the time to worry about your dying marriage!” Ted snarled. “If anyone says one more thing I’m going to snap. I can’t handle the talking, man!” He whined, rocking back and forth.

Paul’s own breathing was sporadic, but somehow he was one of the calmer ones.  
He was trying to look at what was good.   
Emma and Bill were both safe. Everyone was being quiet for now and the man wasn’t here. Police and negotiators were already on the scene. He couldn’t do anything anyways, there was nothing left to do but wait. 

“I’m really sorry,” Melissa spoke quietly, her voice almost a whisper. “I didn’t know this was going to happen.”

“Of course you couldn’t, Melissa,” Charlotte bowed her head.

“Shut up,” someone grunted. 

Ted let out a growl of frustration. “Yes, shut up! All of you!” 

Melissa was still shifting around her hands behind her back, and then with a small grunt she stopped.

“Why do you keep doing that?” 

“I’m trying to loosen them,” she kept her voice down. 

“Can’t you just do what he says!? Stop trying!” Ted moaned. 

“Shh!” She pressed her back up against the wall, sliding her arms over her hips and down her legs, stepping through the loop. Her hands were in front of her now, and she could stand right up. 

“Sit down!” Ted ordered again, raising his own voice despite his pleas for everyone else to keep quiet. “Put your hands behind your back again!”

Melissa ignored him, stepping over someone to get to the office door. 

“Melissa!” Paul hissed, rocking onto his knees to try and stumble up. “What are you doing?” 

“He’s staying in the front office, right at my desk,” she reported. “I’m going the other way.” 

“Hey!” Ted stood up, barging into her way. “If he finds out anyone’s left this room he’ll fucking kill all of us!” 

“Then keep your voice down and he won’t!” Melissa retorted. “Sit still, I’ll come back!” She baited her breath, pressing one hand to the doorknob and turning it very slowly.

“What do you see?” Someone asked, only invested when their own freedom was on the line. 

“I can’t see him from here,” she breathed, pushing the door open. 

“Melissa!” Ted snapped.

Charlotte thwacked him for being so loud with the door open. “Shhh!” She hissed. 

Melissa rushed the door shut. “Ted! What are you doing!?”

“Look! This is a hostage fucking situation, and you think you can be the hero or something? Have you even seen yourself?” 

“At least she’s doing something, Ted!” Charlotte countered. “Complaining won’t get you brownie points with a criminal!” 

“Well if she dies it’s not on me!” Ted shrugged in defence, turning his back to Charlotte because he knew better than to argue with her. 

“I’m not going to die, I’ll come back.” She told them all. 

“I’m coming with you!” Paul wasn’t going to leave her alone again, not if she was going to try something dangerous. 

“Well don’t step so heavily!” She ordered him as she cautiously bumped the door shut with her hip. “Come this way.”

“Where are you going?” He whispered back, walking as slowly as he could. He was only keeping up with her light-footed jog because he had longer legs. 

She didn’t speak, holding a finger to her lips as they turned the corner leading away from Melissa’s front desk. She kept her back low as they passed the gap in the hallway, hurrying Paul on. They could hear the negotiator talking.

“The store room is gonna be locked, Melissa,” he pointed out when he realised where she was going.

“I’ve got my keys,” she moved her hands to the side to pat her blazer pockets. She had to raise both her hands up to contort them into her pocket. She clutched them in her hand so they wouldn’t jingle when she pulled them out. 

Paul braced himself as they key slid into the lock with some resistance, but Melissa opened the door with a doctor’s hand and ushered him through. “Oh my god,” he gasped. 

“Shh, shh,” She squinted in the darkness, trying to make out the shapes on the shelves before selecting a letter opener. 

“Aren’t you scared?” Paul could hardly believe how capable she was when his own heart was beating out of his tight chest. It was crashing against his ribs so loudly he was sure the man must’ve heard. 

“Of course I’m scared,” she grabbed onto the letter opener with her teeth, jamming the knot of the bindings through it. “Which is why,” She grunted as she fiddled with it, “I’m not gonna sit still!” She took her teeth away to bang the letter opener against her chest, fitting it through the knot. With one yank, the bindings loosened and fell off. 

“Good!” Paul almost felt numb with relief and they were still in the thick of it. 

Melissa flexed her wrists, stretching them up once before pulling off Paul’s. 

“Thank you so much!” He pulled her into a quick hug, slumping against the wall. His hands were finally free and he bumped his fists together quickly, it felt much better than tapping his foot. “What do we do now?” At least he was with someone who had some survival instincts. 

“You should get out. I can give you my keys. Get through the emergency exit.” 

“Wait, what about you?” 

“I have to go back for everyone else still,” she quietened him. “You can’t come, you’re too loud.” 

“I’m not leaving you alone!” He yelped, everything was going blurry with fear, his head had been spinning this whole tome but that made him almost nauseous. 

She held her hands to her heart. “I feel like I’ve gotta fix this. If I had just done all the function prep on my own no one else would be in this mess,” she rubbed her eyes. 

“Hey. You can’t blame yourself. I heard what they were all saying and I really hope you don’t let it get to your head.” 

“I’m working on it. Hoping to just repress this whole thing,” she found the time to joke, but when Paul’s nerves made him laugh too loud she snapped under the pressure. “Shut up!” But it was too late. They both heard the creak and the stomping of footsteps. 

Paul grabbed onto her hands, knocking the letter opener out of them. 

“Paul!” She scolded, trying to lean back down to pick it up like she was going to try and stab him with it or something. 

The door was almost pulled off its hinges when it opened, and he stood there with his chest heaving, looking back and forth between the two. “I fucking found you!”  
———————————————————

Why wasn’t Paul responding? If he could text her why couldn’t he reply? She needed to know more, she couldn’t stand not knowing more.

She clung to the words. ‘I’m okay.’ Could he just say it again? One more time? 

“Em, maybe you need to put the phone down for a sec,” Zoey peered in to the breakroom. “I can let you work counter if you want to take your mind off it.”

She shook her head, her eyes staying glued to her phone. “No, he’s talking to me Zoey, he’s going to text me.”

“Is he?” She must’ve thought Emma was going crazy. “I’ve been listening in on the police reports. The negotiator says the hostages are fine and unharmed. But they can’t figure out where he’s keeping them.”

“Why don’t they just storm the place!? There’s only one of him!” She snapped. “Why can’t they just go in there!?”

“Well don’t panic. Do you really think any of them are taking this sitting down?” 

“Yes!” Emma broke out into a sob, her hands flying to her eyes to cover her face. “Paul’s a coward, Zoey!” Maybe She was being pessimistic. “They all are! They’re office workers!” 

“You’re blowing this out of proportion. I’m sure it’s going to be alright, Emma. Nothing bad has happened yet,” Zoey tried once again to soothe her.

“No bad news!? The whole thing is bad news!” She clutched her phone to her chest. She couldn’t even start to think about what might happen if Paul didn’t come out of there - she couldn’t even say it. She wouldn’t. If she said it that meant she was admitting it could happen, and she just wouldn’t. 

“The negotiator is doing all they can, Em. It’ll be over soon okay?” Zoey came to sit next to her on the couch, rubbing her back. “Paul will be fine, and you’ll be fine, and everyone in there okay? Do you need to go home, Emma? Do you really want to sit here?”

She didn’t care if she was being a bother. She needed somewhere close to stay. The second it was over she had to be back with Paul. “I’m staying here. You can’t make me leave.” 

“I wasn’t saying you had to. If you wanna sit there you can,” Zoey undid her apron knot just to tie it up again. “Just don’t lose your mind panicking, okay?” 

———————————————————

“Move and I’ll fucking kill you!” He wasn’t truly threatening, everyone could tell he was more scared than he was angry. 

But regardless, everyone stayed perfectly still except Melissa. She shook and a nervous laugh escaped her mouth. 

“What are you laughing at!?” He shouted. 

“I’m sorry, I laugh when I’m scared,” she was clearly trying to stop herself, digging her teeth into her lips even though it didn’t stop the heaving of her shoulders. 

“I don’t care, be quiet, be quiet! If you try and get out again I’ll just fucking- ugh!” He slammed the door harder than before and they could hear his stomping footsteps all the way back to the main floor, even past the creaky floorboard. 

Melissa was laughing now, rubbing her hands to her face, unable to quit. “Haha, guys, we can’t get out. This is it.”

“Stop smiling,” Someone elbowed her.

“I’m sorry, I really can’t,” she pressed her palm to her mouth. “Look, look. He’s so scared he didn’t even tie us back up,” but her hands were shaking hard. She couldn’t untie anyone if she wanted. 

Paul started with Charlotte first, pulling the tight knot apart and she shivered. 

“Huh?” Ted was the loudest. “Get me out then!”

“Yeah, can you give me a hand Melissa?” 

She didn’t hear him. “Guys, I cant breathe, I can’t- guys, hah,” she was swatting at the chest of the man next to her as if to alert him. 

Paul got to untying Ted, and everyone else was scrambling to move his way. 

Charlotte dived in to hug him around the waist out of relief, and he let Ted deal with the untying of everyone else. 

He spared tome to give Charlotte one pat on the back before scrambling for his phone. 

‘I’m still okay Em,’ he reported. ‘We’re going to get out of here.’ He tucked his phone back into his pocket. They would be reunited soon, but now they had to plan something. 

Melissa didn’t stop her shaking until everyone was free, but no one knew what to do when they all stood up. 

“We can’t just walk out,” Someone criticised. 

“Ah,” Paul rubbed his neck. That was true. “Well why don’t we go out the back door?” He remembered. “The exit down the hall from the supply closet, that’s where we were going to go.” 

“But we’d have to get past him. He’s at Melissa’s desk. How will we get past him without him seeing?” Charlotte fretted, rocking back and forth on her feet, hands across her chest.

“And you guys are all such loud walkers!” Melissa pressed her ear to the door to try and listen out. 

“Shhh!” Ted quietened her. “He’ll hear you!” He grabbed hold of Charlotte now that he had a free hand, trying to shelter her. “You know what I say? We storm him.” 

“He can’t shoot all of us at once!” A man pointed out. 

“We don’t want to kill anyone!” Paul’s blood boiled at that. “We’re getting out of here together, guys!” He tried to rally them, but no one was giving him any attention of course, no one knew him. 

“Don’t be selfish!” Melissa growled. 

“That’s what I said when you bullied me in to sign me up for this dumb volunteer thing too!” 

“Stop blaming this on her! We’re not supposed the ones killing each other!” He side stepped Melissa to step in between them. “You can’t pin this on her for doing what Mr Davidson told her, who thought something like this was gonna happen?” He put an arm against Melissa’s chest to stop her from decking the other man. 

With a resigned glower she made her way back to the door to listen. 

Charlotte peered out cautiously from behind Ted’s shoulder. “Don’t raise your voice, Paul. He could come back at any second!”

It was too late though, there came the dreaded creak of the floorboard and the stomping of his boots. 

Ted grabbed Melissa just in time for the door to fly open and the man to let out a murderous cry at the sight of everyone unbound. 

Paul let out a cry of his own, shutting his eyes tight and covering his head to block it all out, but someone placed a handle on his shoulder and it was calm enough to get him to open up again, removing his hands from his ears.

The noises came flooding back in, filling up his skull. Ted had tackled the man to the ground and another employee had jumped to pin his hands and another on his legs, chaining him down. 

Melissa was ushering everyone else out the door but Charlotte was waiting for him. 

The first person to leave must’ve signalled to the police, because the sirens started back up again and armed men were racing in to take over the scene. 

Charlotte pushed Paul on, clinging on tight to Ted’s hand once they were both up and before they knew it they were all out. 

———————————————————

“Emma, hey!” Zoey almost kicked the back room door open. “Come out here, quick!”

“What!? What’s wrong, is he okay!?”

Zoey nodded, taking her hand to try and get her to move faster. She let her out the front door, pointing down the street at where the police barriers were finally being moved. 

Past all the patrol cars and SWAT vans and tents there were a huddle of people, none of which were in police uniforms. 

“Oh holy shit! Are they out!? Are they out!?” She didn’t wait for Zoey’s reply before she bolted down the streets, not even bothering to check for traffic for once in her life as she reached the police barrier, moving so fast she couldn’t stop herself slamming against the walls. 

“Ma’am you can’t come through right now,” a police officer on the other side advised her sternly. 

“Piss off! Get your chief, where’s Sam? Tell him to get his ass here!” 

Even through his shades she could see his surprise, and he stepped away to go find him. 

He didn’t actually seem to recognise Emma at first, and on any other day she wouldn’t blame him, they had barely ever spoken. She only knew him through Paul who knew him through Charlotte, but today she was going to rip into him for being a dumbass, from keeping her from Paul just a moment too long. “Let me through so I can go see Paul!” She demanded. 

Maybe he was being lenient because his wife had been caught up in it. “Don’t tell anyone. I’ve been sending everyone else away,” he held a finger to his lips as he pulled back the barricade enough for Emma to force her way through. 

She ran so fast she skidded when she came to a halt, colliding into Paul who had not been ready to catch her and sending them both falling to the ground. 

“Emma!”

“Paul!” She had to shout. “Are you hurt? Are you okay!?”

“Em, get up,” he tried to tell her, trying to untangle their legs, but Emma wouldn’t leave him, not even for a second. “Come on, I’m supposed to talk to the police.”

“They can wait!” She wrapped her arms around him. It wasn’t really a hug, more a way to ensure he truly wouldn’t leave her side, and it was up to him to try and heave the both of them to their feet. 

Ted and Charlotte were still hand in hand, but she left him as she saw Sam, who very bashfully tried to tell her he was still on the clock. 

“Don’t be an asshole, man,” Ted grimaced. “Give her some fucking support. We’ve been through shit.” He didn’t leave her side until Sam finally brought Charlotte into a hug, and Emma swore she saw a tear dropping from under his visor. 

“Who else was in there? Bill? Mr Davidson? What about Melissa?” 

“Bill and Mr Davidson weren’t in,” he tried to brush the hair off her cheeks, but it was sticking to her skin from her tears. “Melissa’s okay I think. She’s looking better.”

“What happened?” Emma was breathless already, her chest heaving to keep up with the air her lungs wanted. “No, don’t tell me.” 

She wanted answers, but she wasn’t going to make Paul relive it. She could feel the trembling of his hands on her back, and his eyes were red from his own tears. 

“Is he still alive? Because he’s not going to be for long once I get my fucking hands on him. Is he in there? Tell me, Paul.”

More officers were letting people in now, close family, wives and husbands and children, having their own reunions, crying and sobbing and embracing. 

“Hey, let the police deal with it,” he tried to tell her, glancing over his shoulder. “Let’s go see Melissa, okay?” He almost had to drag her, her own legs weren’t working. 

Paul was sniffling as he crossed through the pen over to Melissa, who was just finishing talking with an officer. 

She looked up at Paul and Emma, scanning them both, and then she seemed to notice everyone else with their own partners and parents, and was suddenly looking very small. 

“Melissa? Are you okay?” Emma asked. 

“Yeah,” she rubbed her wrists. “I bet you must be pretty happy to be back together,” she laughed, and Paul winced at her forced tone. 

“Do you want to come back to ours tonight?” He offered. 

Emma wasn’t mad at him for inviting her, she had been worried about Melissa too, but she did just want to spend the night playing with Paul’s hair until they both fell asleep. 

“Hah, um,” her fingers tweaked her glasses, pushing them up the bridge of her nose like they wouldn’t stay on. “I think I need to be alone for a bit. But thank you.” 

Paul parted from Emma just to give Melissa big hug. It seemed they both needed it, and she sunk into his touch with a whimper as her glasses were ruined by her tears. 

When they finally released Emma clung right back onto him. 

“I appreciate it. I’ve just got to go home and lie in bed for a while. It’s really exhausting being awake right now,” she sniffled, still smiling like nothing had gone wrong. “I think you two need some time to talk as well.”

And Melissa was right. She had so many questions for Paul, she needed to book out the next twenty four hours to get the whole story, the news wouldn’t do. If she found out even a finger had been laid on Paul she didn’t know what she would do. When she hugged herself to him again she could hear his heart still racing. 

“What do you want to do first when you go home?” She asked him as he tried to cross back over to the van where he would be questioned, dragging her along. 

“Nap, shower maybe, lay in bed with you for a couple hours?”

“Can we?” She begged. 

He laughed with some levity, a hand slipping around Emma’s side to straighten her back as they walked. “Yes. I don’t suppose we’ll still be going to that function tonight anyways.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was a bit of a study on the flight/fight/freeze response that I made a post abt ages ago which is primarily the reason Ted was an asshole & Mel had some brain cells for once I like to think she has a solid flight/fight/freeze response considering we like to think she survived


End file.
